Users have been voicing their disdain for Apple’s decision to stay the course with iOS for years. The operating system, albeit the addition of the App Store and a few new features, has remained largely unchanged since its introduction.

That disdain has sparked a number of iOS-related concepts, and we’ve just come across a new mockup. In an effort to change things up a bit, it adds widgets, toggles and a new unlocking mechanism to your iPhone’s Lockscreen… Read More

Taking notice of a rumor that Apple will spice up its iPhone with some colors come this summer, 3D artists are now envisioning what a colored iPhone 5S might look like. However, we haven’t seen any compelling rendering so far. That is, until a French blog this morning highlighted a new concept by 3D artist Alexander Kormishin who attempted to depict what the colored iPhone 5S might look like. I’m not buying it, but we’ll let you be the judge… Read More

Amidst growing speculation that Apple is working on a larger handset, a Russian site has created this mockup of what it believes a bigger iPhone could look like. Created from details in the recent ‘iPhone Math’ rumor, the device has a 4.8-inch display and 12MP camera.

Contrary to other iPhone concepts, which typically travel outside the realm of possibility, this one opts to stay within the lines of Apple’s current design schemes. It looks like the iPhone 5, but its footprint has been both lengthened and widened to support the larger display… Read More

One of the annoying quirks of iOS is there’s no way to quickly toggle battery-draining and data-thirsty features and services we like to use selectively. Of course, that’s without jailbreaking. Considering BossPrefs (the precursor to SBSettings) was released in 2007, it’s about time Apple caught up with the demand for an official quick toggle panel. But how would Apple approach the problem?

Jean-Marc Denis posted one possibility to Dribbble. It’s a concept called ‘Lock Screen Drawer’, which would allow users to access toggles by pulling on a tab under the lock screen clock. Pull the tab, and a small tray slides out. In the concept, the tray is equipped with toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, and hotspot. We’d like to see GPS on the list too, so hopefully there would be a way to customize the toggles… Read More

Remember the iOS concept video we saw earlier this week from André Luis Moreira? It turns out that Moreira had just posted an updated version of the concept on The Verge’s forums. The updated concept is similar to what we’ve already seen, but features essential refinements to the original design, in addition to being resized to fit the iPhone 5‘s 4-inch screen.

Read on to see what’s new, and what has changed in Moreira’s new concept video… Read More

On Monday, we reported on Sentry’s Do Not Disturb concept. The original concept makes use of a “pull to refresh” gesture in Notification Center to toggle iOS 6’s Do Not Disturb mode, instead of relying on a timer. The DND concept looked elegant and intuitive, and in many ways, Sentry outdid Apple’s implementation of Do Not Disturb. In fact, Sentry even has one more thing up his sleeve to show us.

Early this morning Sentry posted another video to YouTube which expands on the original concept, this time focusing on Alerts in Do Not Disturb mode. Normally, in iOS 6, Do Not Disturb mode applies only when the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is locked, but Sentry has found a way to deliver silent, unobtrusive alerts while the device is still in use… Read More

André Luis Moreira, an animator who shares a name with a football player from Brazil, posted a video of a concept for an iOS overhaul back in September, which contains a few surprising features. Keep in mind this isn’t a tweak, just a video concept produced with Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere.

The animation focuses on three main concepts for improving iOS. Quick Settings, a pane that collects the most used options from the settings page; App Flow Multitask, which adds a full screen preview to the app switcher panel; and Dynamic Settings, which provides shortcuts that allows users to quickly jump to a specific app’s settings… Read More

Apple is expected to make a few changes to its mobile lineup this year. For the iPad, it’s expected to revamp the 9.7-inch model making it thinner and lighter, with smaller bezels. On the iPhone side, it’s expected to release a new budget model.

As with all new product rumors, artists are using their skills and creativity to create mockups of what these things could possibly look like. We showed you some earlier today of the next-gen iPad, and now we have some of the rumored ‘iPhone mini.’ Read More

During its big executive shuffle last fall, Apple put expert designer Jony Ive in charge of all HI (Human Interface). And since then, there has been non-stop speculation regarding what kind of changes might be made to the ever-aging iOS.

And a lot of folks are wondering what the operating system would look like without all of the skeuomorphism — the leather, etc. textures. Well designer Adrian Maciburko might be on the right track with his “Crystal Interface” concept… Read More

I think it’s safe to say that the Auxo jailbreak tweak was a resounding success. As you may remember, it initially started out as a concept posted on The Verge forums. Its designer, Sentry, hooked up with a more than capable developer, and eventually the pair made the concept into a successfully reality.

Well it appears that Sentry is back, this time with a new concept aimed around improving the functionality of Apple’s built in Do Not Disturb feature. While Apple may not think that it needs improvement, judging from the advertisement spot it just released showcasing the feature, Sentry believes that he can improve Do Not Disturb by meshing it with Notification Center. Read More

Though Apple is believed to have sold in upwards of 50 million iPhones last quarter, there are still many critics out there that believe both the handset, and the software it runs, are getting a bit long in the tooth.

This is why we continue to see concepts for new iPhones and iOS features with refreshed designs. In fact, a new one popped up yesterday that gives the smartphone an all new look à la the 7th gen iPod nano…

The iPhone’s lock screen has got to be the source of endless inspiration for jailbreak developers and conceptual artists who are constantly coming up with new ways to broaden functionality of your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. UI designer @Sentry_NC of the Auxo fame thought long and hard about juicing up the iPhone’s lock screen and came up with this concept showing how the iOS lock screen pulley grabber could be for more than just the camera app.

What’s best, we heard that jailbreak developer Rudolf Lichtner is already working on turning his idea into a reality. As always, our own Jeff Benjamin will be monitoring the progress of this tweak and sharing his hands-on impressions as soon as the finished code hits Cydia… Read More

I love my iPhone for what it does and even more so for what it might be capable of doing the next year and the year after – and beyond. Heck, a whole cottage industry of mockups and concept renders has sprung up around forthcoming iPhones.

If you ask Aatma Studios, a future iPhone will have a holographic keyboard (Fox News shamefully thought the concept was real!). Another guy, a student, dreamt up a Vibrative Virtual Keyboard that lets you “type” on flat surfaces. Taking their design cues, YouTube user “FranSnk3d” last week posted this nice clip.

I know it is too easily admissible, but so would had been the original iPhone if someone had laid out the concept for you years prior to the January 2007 introduction. Let’s also not forget pico projection is here and that holographs have come quite a long way.

Indeed, who’s to say this won’t be a future iPhone five or so years from today? Read More

Notification Center, a feature Apple borrowed from the jailbreak community, continues to be artists’ favorite playground, if numerous concepts are anything to go by. I’m especially liking a new concept by Alex Saretzky, a designer who is proposing a better use of the screen real estate in Apple’s implementation of the Notification Center.

The redesigned feature helps convey more information compared to Apple’s version of the Notification Center. Specifically, Alex says Apple should drop the linen background (we’re looking at you, Jony Ive) and re-think some of the design decision that clash with its own Human Interface Guidelines… Read More

As successful as iOS has been, and continues to be, for Apple, there’s no question that it’s getting a bit long in the tooth. After all, a majority of the operating system looks just like it did when the iPhone first debuted back in 2007.

A member of The Verge forums posted a series of intriguing images depicting an à la carte heaven where the Apple TV box serves entertainment from pretty much any source imaginable, be it DLNA devices on the local network, your cable or satellite provider web sources like iTunes and YouTube – even premium channels like HBO and Fox. Regardless of the source, the concept calls for a unified interface bringing together all the different media sources in one central place, with voice-activated search, electronic program guides and other perks… Read More

With Scott Forstall’s departure, watchers and users alike are keeping their eyes peeled for Jony Ive-ification of Apple’s mobile operating system. It is no secret that iOS is showing its age in several key aspects, especially compared against Android. The concept of alerts, despite advancements such as Notification Center, is still too obtrusive and leaves a lot to be desired.

That’s why I approve a new solution proposed by an Apple fan who has envisioned friendlier and actionable iOS alerts… Read More

Wish someone made this. Apple makes the Smart Cover for the full-size iPad and the iPad mini so why not for the iPhone 5? Designer Adrien Olczak, the brains behind this intriguing concept, rightfully points out that someone should “do this and take my money”. His idea is unlikely to become a reality in this form, even if it cries for Kickstarter.

Now, I don’t know about you but I really dislike screen protectors because they’re bad for multitouch performance more often than not. And as head-turning as designs of regular covers are, they’re tough to remove and hide the handset’s beautiful design, which is actually my main gripe with the sleeve industry in general… Read More

The radical iSiri gadget idea by designer Federico Ciccarese may be the ultimate iWatch concept conceived to date. Falling somewhere in between this eerie-looking Matrix-ified gadget and another conceptual time piece with a FaceTime camera on it, iSiri seems so obvious and inevitable. If only Apple didn’t replace the rectangular iPod nano with a tall one… Read More

A lot of ordinary people upon seeing Aatma Studios’s concept of an iPhone with a holographic keyboard thought Apple was working on one (Fox News certainly fell for it). Florian Kräutli, a computing student at Goldsmiths, University of London, had a better idea.

Instead of a laser-projected virtual keyboard, he uses the iPhone’s sensitive accelerometer sensor to measure the strength and frequency of microscopic vibrations that occur when “typing” on a surrounding surface area. Enter Vibrative Virtual Keyboard… Read More